Re: [LM_NET] Re School Librarians Obsolete (long)

[Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM>]

I agree with you -- but 
  we now have schools with reading coaches, literacy coaches, technology coaches, 
etc. and in most cases they don't collaborate with the media specialist.
   
  Also when you make the library responsible -- in many cases this is perceived as 
telling teachers what to do -- and the media specialist is not an administrator
   
  In some schools media specialists are the last person they put on stategic 
planning committees.
   
  I love your list to do RIGHT NOW
  If we could only motivate some of the unmotivated -- we could make a difference.
   
  Paula
  

Mike Eisenberg <mbe@U.WASHINGTON.EDU> wrote:
  To All - 

I really appreciate David Triche's comments as well as Paulette
Simpson's. David is right - to a degree. If school librarians focus on
the "stuff" of libraries (collections, systems, even technology) and
passive provision of that stuff, and doing things the way we've always
done them, then we are doomed to obsolescence.

BUT - if teacher-librarians truly embrace the mission of Information
Power - "to ensure that students are effective users of ideas and
information" - and deliver on that mission then, library & information
programs and teacher-librarians can thrive!

Here's how - 

- active, engaged programs targeted to the specific needs of the
students
- programs focused on the 3 major functions of the library & information
program: information skills instruction, reading advocacy, information
management
- emphasis of the program each year in terms of the % on each of the 3
functions determined by the school community (administration and
classroom teachers especially) and not the teacher-librarian in
isolation
- emphasis on the information literacy curriculum as a central part of
the school's curriculum program - with the library & information program
RESPONSIBLE for seeing that the curriculum is delivered, learned, and
assessed
- systematic and comprehensive analysis of needs - updated yearly
- strategic planning - involving the school community
- performance assessment using state exams and other measures valued by
the school and community
- broad-based programs that INCLUDE the technology and media faculty and
support staff
- a willingness to give up old, outdated modes of resources, services,
and functions and move to more effective and efficient approaches....


Information is the lifeblood of every major business or organization.
Every major business or organization has an active, engaged, information
unit - often headed by a "CIO" - a chief information officer. At the
building level, the teacher-librarian should be that CIO.

But we need to think 
- big
- innovatively
- controversially
- boldly
- systematically.

Here are some possibilities - RIGHT NOW.

(1) get ready for next year right now.
(2) What is the #1 library & information priority in your school? Is it
information literacy? Reading? Information technology? THEN FOCUS ON
THAT. Minimize time and effort in the other areas.
(3) If you spend too much time on shelving and sign-out, then don't!
Find another way to get it done, or just don't do it. Make books due
once a month - or not at all! Have students reshelve their own
books...whatever, just stop focusing on this.
(4) If you spend too much time selecting materials, then don't! Form a
district committee to do 90% of selection for all elementary schools.
Or a statewide committee. Or just use the standard lists. I know, I
know - this is terrible! But, figure out another way to do it.
(5) If kids are using the "library" more and more remotely and less
physically, then get in there and spend more "time" in virtual space!
Or in the classrooms.
(6) Analyze scores on standardized tests. How could YOU make a
difference - right away! 
(7) Collaboration is a means, not an end. Focus on students and
learning - not necessarily on classroom teachers.
(8) Flexible scheduling is a means, not an end. If the best way for you
to work with kids is through scheduling, then do it!
(9) If the kids use Google for everything, stop trying to tell them to
use something else. HELP them to use Google (or the Wikipedia) more
effectively. Teach them to select best resources from Google and how to
cite.

I'll stop for now. But, I hope you get the picture. 

David - the vision and functions are not obsolete. But, I agree with
you that the old ways of doing things are. Every school needs an
information infrastructure with information services, instruction, and
management. If school libraries and librarians disappear, down the road
we will start to see information and technology programs with CIOs or
technology specialists. So, why wait? Let's reinvent ourselves and our
programs now! 

Question everything! 

The litmus test is - are you spending your time and effort (as limited
as it might be) in the best ways "to ensure that students are effective
users of ideas and information?"

Mike




-------------------------







Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 23:28:59 -0400
From: PM Chatman Subject: Re: School Librarians Obsolete

David,

All of what you are saying is true - but where is the optiziming behind
al
l of this reality- We just need to keep ourselves valuable in all areas.

Maybe you can get certified in educational technology and keep yourself
muc h more valubable. 

Paulette Simpson
Cincinnati, OH




----------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 10:33:01 -0700
From: David-Triche.SITE-PO2.SCUSD@SAC-CITY.K12.CA.US
Subject: [LM_NET] School Librarians Obsolete To: 
The writing is on the wall: School Librarians are an endangered

species, not only school librarians, but all librarians in small 
libraries middle level management in all industries. This is part of a

greater development. School librarians are really middle level 
management and technology is replacing this group at a terrific 
rate. Computers crunch numbers and keep track of transactions and 
statistics very efficiently. Indeed, it makes the tasks of a 
librarian much easier. However, computers also do many of the jobs 
librarians, as middle management, used to do. In fact, having worked 
in school libraries in four districts in four states I have learned 
that is was once common for larger schools to have two credentialed 
librarians. All the tasks of cataloguing and processing books 
demanded that level of staffing. The era of the two librarian school 
library has long passed and where it exists it is due to tradition 
rather than necessity. It is analogous to what has happened in retail 
and even the hospitality industry. Computers allow for the 
instantaneous transfer of information to upper management without the 
necessity of intermediate steps. This has eliminated or minimized the 
need for on site managers in many industries. Indeed, many economists 
point to this process as a prime reason in the stagnation of middle 
class wages over the last thirty years. 
Think about our own jobs. Automated check out is already a
reality. 
Late and lost item notices can be generated and sent automatically. 
Processing and selection can be done on a district or even county or 
state level. From the principal or superintendent92s point of view, 
having a high cost librarian at each site is fast becoming an 
unnecessary cost. Someone to shelve books, keep the computers turned 
on and sweep the floor is all they consider necessary. Indeed, when 
I worked in another state two years ago, 90% of my time was involved 
in totally non library related activities. I was the testing 
coordinator, taught literacy to improve test scores all morning covered

classes when teachers were absent. In many cases the only reason we 
still have jobs is because we manage a great room to have meetings in 
and a large number of capital goods. I plan to tabulate the exact 
numbers, but my library closes for all sorts of testing, meetings and 
presentations. We are closed to students a great deal of the time. 
While it is true we can be great assets to teachers, learning and 
better test scores, we are increasingly viewed as a budgetary waste. 
It is only a matter of time until a school with a librarian will be an

oddity and only exist where the management has a special desire for 
their services. This process will be accelerated as tech companies 
develop hardware and software to accomplish the tasks we now do more 
efficiently and cheaply. Furthermore, as the number of tech savvy 
younger teachers increases, many of the things we offer teachers will 
be able to be accomplished in the classroom or by the teacher in the 
library. It is inevitable and there is not a whole lot we can do about

it. David Neuville Triche, LMT Luther Burbank High School 
3500 Florin Rd.
Sacramento, CA 95823
(916)433-5100 Ext. 2000
David-Triche@sac-city.k12.ca.us

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Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com
       
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